Gabriel II ( el, ), (? – 3 December 1659) was

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople ( Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of ...

for one week in 1657. In 1659 he was hanged by the Ottoman Sultan for having baptized a converted Muslim, and after refusing to abjure his own Christian faith. He is hence revered as ''

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Hieromartyr In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, a hieromartyr is a martyr (one who dies for his beliefs) who was a bishop or priest. Analogously, a monk who is a priest is known as a hieromonk A hieromonk ( el, Ἱερομόναχος, Ieromonachos; ka, � ...

Gabriel, Metropolitan of Prousa'' and his feast in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

is December 3.

Life

Gabriel was elected Metropolitan of Ganos and Chora on 23 March 1648 for a first term which lasted until 26 November 1651, and again in 1654. After the execution of Parthenius III he was appointed as the new Patriarch on 23 April 1657 with the support of the Greek Orthodox

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

. However the

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox C ...

considered him uneducated and unsuitable for the throne, and deposed him a few days later, on 30 April 1657. After his deposition, besides his diocese of Ganos, he was given the position of administrator (''

proedros ''Proedros'' ( el, πρόεδρος, "president") was a senior Byzantine court and ecclesiastic title in the 10th to mid-12th centuries. The female form of the title is ''proedrissa'' (προέδρισσα). Court dignity The title was created in ...

'') of the vacant

Metropolitan See Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a ...

of Prousa ( Bursa). Here he was accused by the Jewish community to have baptized a Muslim, even if actually the baptized was a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

and not a Muslim. He was also charged with maintaining good relations with the Russians, at the time at war with the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Sultan

Mehmed IV Mehmed IV ( ota, محمد رابع, Meḥmed-i rābi; tr, IV. Mehmed; 2 January 1642 – 6 January 1693) also known as Mehmed the Hunter ( tr, Avcı Mehmed) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the a ...

was in those days in Bursa, and his Grand Vizier Mehmed Koprulu imprisoned Gabriel, and promised him freedom and honor in change to conversion to Islam. Gabriel refused and was tortured and finally hanged on 3 December 1659.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabriel 02 Of Constantinople, Patriarch 1659 deaths 17th-century Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople 17th-century Eastern Orthodox martyrs Christian saints killed by Muslims Metropolitans of Bursa People executed by the Ottoman Empire by hanging Year of birth unknown Christians executed for refusing to convert to Islam